Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of basic macroeconomic theory, empirical macroeconomic data and models, macroeconomic analysis, and application to economic developments and policy issues.

COURSE DETAILS:

This is an introductory course in theoretical and applied macro-economics. The aim of the course is broad in scope to prepare students for further graduate study in macroeconomics and also to ensure that all students leave the course with a policy-relevant toolkit.  
The course will cover five key topics:
(1)   Growth theory and institutions (including empirical evidence);
(2)   General equilibrium models of consumption and investment (including money);
(3)  Unemployment and search models
(4)  Optimal monetary and fiscal policy
(5)  Behavioral macroeconomics    
Because many interesting and practical models do not have analytical solutions, part of the toolkit of any applied macro-economist is a basic knowledge of computational methods. Thus, throughout the term we shall examine some relatively simple computational methods. You will be expected to learn these methods and apply them to assignment problems.   *I will not be assuming a background beyond what you should already have; i.e., math at the level of 798, micro at the level of 802, and macro at some advanced undergraduate level. Also, note that no prior experience in writing computer code is needed.

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